


Ruby Rose Kisses (almost) Every Girl

by Xekstrin



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 15:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9392219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xekstrin/pseuds/Xekstrin
Summary: Exactly what it says on the tin.Ruby / [Weiss, Blake, Yang, Nora, Pyrrha, Velvet, Coco, Cinder, Neo, Salem, Glynda, Emerald, Winter, Reese, Arslan, May, Melanie, Miltia, Penny, Neon, Ciel, Amber, Raven]





	

**Weiss**

It shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering how single-mindedly she’d tried to claim Neptune. When Weiss wanted something she was relentless. And when dealing with Ruby, she was needlessly sharp.

She held Ruby under her chin, tilting her head back. Blue eyes narrowed, not necessarily out of anger or displeasure.  Even so, Ruby felt like she’d already disappointed her somehow.

“Can I kiss you?” Weiss asked, and Ruby nearly had a stroke. Not trusting her voice, she nodded. So Weiss leaned down, the touch clean and methodical, yet intimate.

Weiss let out a long breath, eyes slowly opening to fix her with a piercing stare.

 

**Blake**

It was the most natural thing in the world. They slept snuggled up together under the same blanket. Ruby’s nose crinkled. The sharp spine of a hardcover pressed into her forehead until she nudged it off the edge of the bed.

Turning around, she blinked and wondered how many people had seen Blake this peaceful. Catching the faunus unguarded happened very rarely. As if sensing her thoughts, Blake stirred, reaching out and bapping her palm against Ruby’s face.

“Morning,” she said as Ruby giggled, voice deep and raspy with sleep. She opened her arms and held Ruby, pulling up her shirt to stroke her bare back.

Ruby cuddled up close. Just touching her was a pleasure. Just being around her made everything quiet. Blake’s body stiffened once at the initial touch. Then she melted, warm affection and lazy indulgence as she opened her mouth and deepened the kiss.

 

**Yang**

All she could hear was her own blood pounding in her ears. Dimly, in another universe, she could feel the vibration of many footsteps marching past. Angry shouting. Cold, clicking metal, guns reloading and swords unsheathing and weapons transforming into melee form.

Yang's attention was elsewhere, forehead creased in concentration. Standing chest to chest, Ruby could feel Yang’s body wound up tighter than a noose. She kept one palm over Ruby’s mouth-- as if Ruby needed any reminder to be quiet.

 _Don’t look in here_ , Ruby could almost feel her think, _Don’t find us. Don’t find us._

When the noise finally died down, Yang relaxed. She kept both forearms pressed on either side of Ruby’s face, looking down at her now with that same severe stare.

“What next, team leader?” she said, mouth so close Ruby could feel warm breath on her lips. “We have to find a way out of here before the security systems come back online.”

"I'm thinking," Ruby said, voice tight because she actually was focusing hard on breathing out her mouth instead of her nose. It defied description but if she had to stand there and... and _smell_ Yang any longer, had to feel that body pushed right up against every part of her that pulsed with need, if she dared close her eyes for a second and soak in how it felt, she was going to lose her fucking mind.

 

**Nora**

A perfect day meant gloomy, miserable weather. Cause then, Ruby had an excuse to stay inside, elbow deep in Magnhild as Nora watched in fascination.

“So you don’t know how it works?” she said, voice going tinny as she ducked her head inside the chamber.

“I never gave it much thought.” Nora smirked as Ruby groped around beside her on the workbench, grasping for some delicate tool. Nora slid it over, smiling when Ruby snatched it. “It was a... Hmm. Relic, I guess.”

Ruby popped back up, eyes widening. “You mean like from one of the old temples out in the wild?”

“Yeah. We found one while uh...” Nora faltered. “When we were headed to Beacon for the first time.”

Humming thoughtfully, Ruby finished tweaking the finer mechanisms and slammed it shut. As she did so, another crack of thunder threatened to shake the dorms down to their foundations. From far away she heard someone shriek in fright-- either Jaune or Weiss, she honestly couldn’t tell.

Ruby and Nora grinned at each other, delighted.

"Okay." Ruby hefted up the war hammer, passing it over to Nora with a strained exhale. "It-- _hoof_ \-- it should work like a charm now. No more misfires. How’d you deal with this issue before?”

She shrugged. “There’s always gearheads and gunsmiths around who’ll do the job better than me.”

“You _really_ need to learn how to maintain it, Nora.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby could see pink aura. It sifted down Nora’s forearm to her attuned weapon, letting her wield it with ease. When Ruby blinked it was gone, shimmering like a mirage.

Nora winked, twirling the hammer once like a baton. “But then I won’t have an excuse to talk to you!”

Ruby hugged her, kissing her briefly on the lips. “We’re a little bit past that, aren’t we? You know you don’t need an excuse to be around the person you like.”

 

**Pyrrha**

“Feeling any better?”

Ruby looked up from her book with a smile as Pyrrha entered. The dorm room door was always open these days, propped open with a rock. Jaune and Nora had painted it the team colors, and Ren solemnly named it, and they all pretended it wasn’t incredibly goofy to have a pet rock.

“A little.” She waved her book. “I’m almost done with the latest batch.”

Settling down on the bed next to her, Pyrrha placed one hand over Ruby’s cast. She’d propped her leg up on a mountain of pillows, trying to take it easy, like the nurse said. “Then I’ll help you to the library to get more.”

“It’s okay. I’ve still got a buncha movies to burn through too.”

Cupping her face, Pyrrha leaned closer and kissed her forehead. “You know it’s no problem at all.” She kissed her again, this time on the lips. “I want to take care of you.”

She wished she didn’t still blush whenever Pyrrha said things like that. “Then can you hang out with me? Just for a little while? I know it’s your day off.”

“Of course.” Kicking off her shoes, Pyrrha stretched out next to her. Ruby sighed in relief, kissing her over and over again. “Why do you think I’m here?”

 

**Velvet & Coco**

Every time the camera flashed, Ruby had to try not to flinch. It was hard to have someone shoot at you and stay still. It went against every instinct she had.

But she owed Yang a favor, and Coco needed an extra model.

“Sucks that your sister bailed. She’s tall and leggy. The camera looooves her.” Coco reached forward again to fluff up her hair, spiked and curled and twisted and gelled up with every kind of hair product imaginable and quite a few that weren’t. “Now Velvet, lower your chin a bit? And smile when you’re kissing her.”

Velvet did as instructed, taking Ruby’s palm and kissing the inside of her wrist. They held the pose, clothing pinned and pressed and blown about by strategically placed fans.

With that warm mouth right on her pulse, Ruby had trouble following instruction, or even parsing out simple conversation. “What is this for again?” She somehow managed to ask between tightly clenched teeth.

“My portfolio.” Another flash. “What’s that thing on your knee? Didja hurt yourself?”

At first, she didn't know what Coco meant. Then it struck her. The hemline of her skirt had covered it, but for this pose... "Scraped it, yeah. Sorry, is it like... ruining the aesthetic or whatever?"

"Not at all." For some reason that absolutely delighted her. "It's kinda cute that you scraped your knee. That's such a, like, tomboy injury."

Shuffling forward, Coco batted up the hem of Ruby’s skirt a bit. That wasn’t so unusual, except then she let her camera dangle on the strap around her neck so that she could hold onto Ruby’s leg. One palm under her calf to extend it and the other on Ruby’s lap, she bent over and lightly kissed right over the bandage. “There. Kissed it better.”

“Stop teasing the poor girl,” Velvet chided her, kicking out and pushing Coco’s face away with the heel of her shoe.

 

**Cinder**

She spent years watching Cinder. Everywhere she went, the woman came like an apparition. Like spotting an ill omen, she would catch gold eyes and black hair and know that chaos would follow in her wake.

Sometimes they were on the same side. It was always a tense ordeal, wondering if this time Cinder would help her. It happened often enough that Ruby couldn’t dismiss her out of hand or discredit her willingness to help. Despite it all, Cinder remained a servant at heart. Someone who could strike out on their own but needed a home to roost at when it came time to lick her wounds and recover.

Cinder stormed into her hotel room with a stride so exact you could measure music by it. Her glass heels clicked and she threw open the blinds, letting the sunshine in.

“Up,” she said. Ruby whined and rolled further into the covers. “We have a lot to do today and I won’t let you weasel out of it.”

Cinder yanked the blankets right off her bed. So Ruby forced herself to stand.

“We won’t get anything done til two, at least.” She grumbled as Cinder went over to the windows, opening them up to the city noises outside. She stood, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

As always, Cinder was perfectly put together. The clothes and the hair all placed like strokes from a paintbrush. Cinder didn’t allow people to see her as less than that. Well, she didn’t allow most people. The understanding between the two of them meant that occasionally, the armor cracked.

Stepping over to her, Ruby paused and wondered what had Cinder in such a rush today. As always when she was around, there was a sense of impending doom, of the moon hanging only by a thread in the sky. This time it threatened both of them-- probably. There was always something Cinder kept close to her chest, some detail she withheld as leverage.

Arching up onto her tiptoes, she closed her eyes and kissed the vulnerable center of Cinder’s back. She always expected the tattoo to feel different, but it never did. One thing never changed, at least.

Cinder stood up straighter, a shocked gasp escaping her throat.

After a measured silence, Cinder slowly glanced at Ruby over her shoulder. Chagrined, Ruby tried to appear penitent. It wasn’t a good look on her.

“You’re being very bold today, pup.”

“Is there a reason we shouldn’t?” Ruby wondered, hands behind her back.

“Not that I know of.”

Then Cinder was on her with teeth and tongue, kissing her like today might be the last time.

 

**Neo**

The words came quicker than she anticipated. Ruby had always been a terrible student. But that was because the classrooms always wanted her to stand still. By contrast, Neo taught her in quick movements as they traveled together to the capital. She would wake her up in the morning with twisting hands. Careful flicks and rolls, curling the arm close to the chest, tapping foreheads and sometimes downright wiggling. By the end of the first month, Ruby was conversing with her in halting sign language. Neo delighted in tormenting her with harder words, more complex symbols.

She felt like she fell through learning, stumbling accidentally into what Neo wanted her to say.

 _Help me_ came quicker than either of them wanted. It needed no translation or explanation due to the expression on Neo's face. Ruby knew it by heart. She knew it in any language, and it was a cry she could not ignore. She learned in quick movements as always, with Ruby grabbing Neo by the front of her jacket and yanking her from the edge of the precipice.

She dragged Neo off, retreating in a mad dash from the crumbling cliffside edge, one arm protectively slung around her waist.

They paused, panting for breath, Neo’s shirt still coiled up into a bundle in her fist.

Neo said _thank you_ , kind of, slinking her arms up the back of Ruby’s neck and pulling her down for a kiss.

 

**Salem**

The armies moved.

Exhaling deeply, she lifted herself up over the bar, holding herself there. Then a slow, measured descent. Up, and down again, until her muscles burned. Strange that it only took a few months of the treatment to become so much stronger.

Drenched in sweat, she finally let herself fall when boredom threatened to overtake her. She didn’t get tired.

Not anymore.

Salem liked to keep her around as an ornament. A pet. Everyone knew about the guardian that shadowed their master, that huntress in blood red leather and pitch black fur. A mane of Nevermore quills rattled with every step. They were braided into her hair, it seemed... until closer inspection revealed otherwise.

They grew from her scalp, and scales sprouted from the back of her neck and grew thicker every year. Soon they’d travel up, around her face. Soon the pallid cast of her face would harden and grow strong and the white mask would take over, and then she would be Salem’s completely. She would be everything promised in a kiss, black liquid slipping down her throat and changing her. Corrupting her from the inside out.

Leaning over the balcony railing in her private quarters, she watched the black tendrils of destruction trail out. The armies of Grimm flowed out from the heart of darkness, neverending.

Salem sometimes touched her black hair, twisted fingers through the feathers. “Winter,” she called her, harkening back to some old, unfunny inside joke.

She blinked languidly, black sclera hosting twin red pupils that burned, ever vigilant for threats against her masters.

 

**Glynda**

Everything stuck to her skin. The summers in Vale were unbearably humid, thick as a wet towel wrapped around her face. Glynda left the window open, fanning herself with a loose sheet of paper, and that’s how Ruby snuck in.

“Hiii, Glynda.”

Glynda looked up from her desk, blinking in confusion until the sight fully registered. Ruby perched on the sill, one leg dangling out and the other pulled up to her chest. She saluted with two fingers, winking.

"There's a perfectly functioning door, not ten feet that way," Glynda pointed, "Young lady."

“Is that any way to treat a treasured alumni and hero of Vale?”

With a rush of spring air, Ruby drifted over to the desk. Rose petals scattered at her feet when she touched solid ground, leaning over to kiss Glynda’s forehead.

“You never graduated.”

“The school blew up,” Ruby reminded her.

Glynda stood up with a sigh. Then she held Ruby by the shoulder, angling her close for a kiss. “How long are you in town?”

“Long enough that I’d like to stay at your place. If that’s okay.”

There was no hiding the open fondness in her eyes as Glynda stroked Ruby’s hair, brushing it out of her face. “It feels odd keeping a young woman like you as a stray cat. Do you have other houses you visit? Or am I special? I wonder.”

“I don’t like them as much as I like you,” Ruby promised, kissing her again. “Even after all these years I always feel safest when you’re nearby.”

Glynda hummed, sounding displeased. So Ruby got up on her knees, scooting forward on Glynda’s desk and peppering her face with kisses. “So what would happen if I tried to chain you down this time?”

"I wouldn't mind a leash and a collar if that's what you're askin'." Ruby had succeeded in climbing over the desk, wrapping herself arms and legs around Glynda. "But weren't you the one who said you didn't have time for a full-time girlfriend?"

Glynda grasped her by the thighs, smiling thinly. “I might make an exception for a little stray cat.”

 

**Emerald**

She knew Emerald hadn’t slept. All the signs were there. When she rolled over, she saw her wife wide-awake, staring at the ceiling. Her hands were cold, a faint sheen of sweat glistening on her skin.

"Let's call in sick," Ruby immediately said, and they decided to go to Patch. The parks were empty now, with all the kids in school.

In springtime, it erupted into flowers. They hung from groaning tree limbs and floated in the ponds and danced through the air. Emerald seemed to enjoy it. Though insomnia stamped its hideous mark on her, she never complained or let it slow her down.

Ruby, constantly, felt torn between pride and dismay. She looked at Emerald and saw the rapid change, glorious growth, incredible strength. Emerald, by all accounts, only saw nightmares.

“You like this island so much.” Emerald swung their clasped hands as they walked. “Why don’t we get a little house here?”

“My job’s in Vale,” Ruby reminded her, lifting their hands up so she could kiss the back of Emerald’s palm.

“You could always teach weapon smithing here in Signal Academy. They’re dying to replace your dusty uncle.”

They paused to rest under the shade of a weeping willow. Emerald reached up, shaking a branch to let a stream of petals fall onto the river below. The water carried it away.

 

**Winter**

“I’m pretty sure this is illegal.” She wiped her sweating palms off on her lap before quickly clutching the wheel again. “You’re sure I’m doing this right?”

“I wouldn’t lie to spare your feelings.” Winter leaned over the pilot seat, adjusting Ruby’s position. She straightened her out, pulling her back by the shoulders so that she sat upright. “There. You’re a natural.”

Ruby glowed under the praise. She really, _really_ wanted to fly the private cruiser at least once, but she never dreamed that Winter Schnee would let her. “We gotta swap out before landing, though. I am NOT doing that.”

She heard the older woman chuckle as she walked round to the other side of the chair. “Of course. You might scratch her, and we can’t have that.”

"I really should have taken those pilot lessons back when they were offering them in Beacon," Ruby groused. Though that was more than ten years ago, and it's not like flying opportunities came every day.

Leaning over, Winter kissed the top of her head. “I’m a licensed instructor. I can teach you more... if you want.”

Ruby nearly lost control of the ship. “Really?!”

“Really.”

 

**Reese**

“Eaaaaaaat my shorts.”

Ruby rolled triumphantly in circles around Reese, sticking her tongue out. For her part, Reese flushed and dug a few paper lien out of her pockets. She extended her hand and Ruby snatched the cash on the next circuit before kicking off and rolling away.

“I told you she could actually skate,” Yang said, leaning an elbow on Reese’s shoulder.

“I thought she was lying to impress me.”

“Nope!” Ruby said, zipping past them again.

“My sis is a pretty terrible liar.” The next time Ruby whooshed by in a rush of red petals, the stack of lien was in Yang’s hand. “Now have fun, you two.” She patted Reese on top of her head and chuckled before taking off.

When Ruby finally returned the skateboard, she was grinning from ear to ear. “Can I take it apart now?” That was her part of the wager. “I’d love to see how the pistols work.”

Red-faced, Reese agreed. And so Ruby hopped up, kissing her cheek.

Blinking a few times, Reese stared at her. “But I lost the bet.”

“Yeah.” Ruby was turning red too, but she still managed to keep her grin. “I felt like kissing you anyway.”

 

**Arslan**

Wrestling, feeling, groping, stretching. When she focused long enough it became reflex. She flipped and pinned Arslan underneath her on the mat, sometimes managing to keep her there. But sometimes, like today, she short circuited the moment Arslan touched her.

It didn’t help that Arslan only wore tight shorts and a sports bra when they trained. Ruby sweat straight through her t-shirt. Red in the face, she gasped for breath as she frantically tapped out.

"You're doing much better," Arslan promised, slinging a towel around Ruby and rubbing her down playfully. "In a few months, I think you'll be able to give Yang a run for her money."

That was how this started, of course. And then they started hanging out afterward. And then they started hanging out before...wards. ( _Beforewards isn’t a real word, Ruby_.) (She was pretty sure it wasn’t a real word.)

“When do you think I’ll be able to beat _you_?” she muttered, cracking open a bottle of water.

“Haha! Hmm. Maybe when you stop over thinking every move. That’s your weak point, you know.” Arslan dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“Y-yeah,” Ruby agreed breathlessly, glad she had the exercise as an excuse for how warm she was.

 

**May Zedong**

“No distractions,” she said sternly, and May started giggling. She flopped down, landing right on top of Ruby as she squeezed the trigger. “ _Oof_!”

 _Bang_!

Her shot went wildly off. The row of glass bottles they were aiming at remained undisturbed. Growling, Ruby let go of her rifle and rolled over, grabbing May instead. She wrestled her down to the ground, tickling her furiously as the other girl squealed in protest.

“You’re such a sore loser!” Ruby shouted, but she was grinning. “I can’t believe you!”

May insisted otherwise. In her struggles, her hat had risen up a bit. So she wiggled one hand free to tug it back down over her blind eye, laughing even harder. “A real sniper wouldn’t let that distract her!”

“A real sniper doesn’t cheat!”

"Out in the battlefield, it's not cheating. It's winning." Taking out the last bullet, May pressed it into Ruby's palm. "Here. One last shot. This'll be the tiebreaker."

“Kiss for good luck?” Ruby asked. So May took her hand and kissed the tip of the silver bullet, lips curling in a smile.

 

**Melanie & Miltia**

The problem was, she couldn't do numbers. Ruby tried her best to diligently remember every kiss, the exact amount of flowers, the dates. She even recruited Weiss's help to organize a little schedule, a daily planner to keep track of it all.

“Of course _you_ would make life difficult for yourself this way,” she said with a sniff.

“Shut up. I like having two girlfriends.”

And she did love being around them, even if it got awkward sometimes. She wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

So that's why she knocked on their apartment at ten o'clock, hair askew and dark circles under her eyes. Miltia answered, thankfully. "Ruby?"

Not able to explain, Ruby got up to her tip-toes and kissed her. Then she relaxed, sighing.

“I forgot. I gave Melanie a good night kiss and I didn’t give you one even though you were right there.” She rubbed at her eyes, the heels of her palms digging in. “It’s just going so crazy with finals right now and I haven’t really slept lately, and I _know_ you said it doesn’t bother you but that’s cause we usually do separate dates, and--”

Melanie popped into view of the doorframe, resting her chin on Miltia’s shoulder. “You haven't slept?”

Crap. Ruby backpedaled, trying to salvage this, but it was too late. As one, they each grabbed a wrist and dragged her inside.

Melanie unzipped her hoodie and Miltia tugged it off. She quieted her protests with another kiss. And then Ruby began to stress again, wanting to turn and kiss Melanie too, but Miltia stopped her. “You don’t have to count and give us exactly the same amount of everything, you goofball. When was the last time you ate?”

“I knew we should have had dinner,” Melanie complained, hanging up Ruby’s hoodie in the hallway closet. “But Miss Overachiever here said she had to go home and study.”

“I _do_ have to study,” Ruby protested.

“Come here.” She was immediately squished into a tight hug, her face nestling in Melanie cleavage. There was a token amount of resistance, and then she let it happen. It was just so good to let them take care of her, especially during crunch time. Ruby knew neglecting herself when she stressed was a bad habit, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’m sorry,” she said, voice muffled as she returned the hug.

“You have to take better care of yourself, Ruby,” Melanie said.

“We’re not always going to be there to bail you out and force you to eat something other than energy bars,” Miltia added.

“I will. I promise.”

Melanie tutted, pushing Ruby back to run a hand through thick black hair. “Do you really count every kiss?”

This time, Ruby didn’t answer.

“Don’t lie,” Melanie said sternly.

Now Ruby _really_ couldn’t answer.

“That’s probably why she can’t ever relax when we’re alone...” Miltia noted with amusement.

Ruby started turning bright red.

“Yup,” the two of them said, regarding each other with a knowing expression. “You’ve got a terrible poker face, Ruby,” Melanie said, and began undressing her.

Miltia promised her a thousand lurid things in the next kiss, lipping at the shell of her ear. “Just what are we going to do to get all those numbers out of your head?”

“I’ve got an idea.”

“Or two.”

Internally flailing, Ruby stammered out every disjointed thought in her exhausted mind. “I don’t... you don’t... I mean we don’t have to... I... this is against the rules... we said we wouldn’t? I mean you said you wouldn’t?”

Melanie hushed her with another kiss, untucking her shirt from her skirt. “We’ll make an exception just for you.”

 

**Neon**

She leaned down, tongue between her teeth as she grinned.  “What, are you going to tell on me? Cry to mommy? Loser!”

It took everything in her power not to swing at her. “If you don’t give Crescent back to me--”

Neon didn’t even let her finish, bursting into laughter. “You named your weapon?! Oooh, is she your girlfriend? Did I steal your teddy bear?” she held Cresent like a lover, smothering it in kisses. “Mmmmmwah.”

“Lots of people name their weapons!” Ruby lunged for her, trying to grab it with both hands.

 _“Lots of people name their weapons_!” Neon echoed, skating back an inch with the rifle over her head. “Tell you what, if you can beat me in a race around the stadium, I’ll give you your little peashooter back.”

Standing rigid with her hands clenched at her sides, Ruby silently counted to five. She had no idea why this stupid girl was bothering her, but she was already on Ruby's crap list for the way she'd taunted Yang during the doubles match. Making fun of Crescent pushed her into _unforgivable_ territory.

“Fine,” she snapped. “Loser has to kneel and beg forgiveness.”

Neon’s eyebrows rose up, grinning in impish delight.

 

**Penny**

After it was all over, she took Penny shopping. It wasn’t exactly her forte, but Ruby wouldn’t let her down.  They’d spent so many nights talking about the lives of normal girls, all the things they both missed out on. Ruby was content to let it all fly past her, to focus only on the edge of her blade.

Something about the way Penny went all wistful about it made her change her mind.

“Here. Red is one of my favorite colors.”

She knelt down, fastening the shoe onto Penny’s foot. It was a little red kitten heel, made to match the dress she’d picked out for her. Occasionally she sent snapshots to Yang and Coco for advice. They had nothing but good things to say, and Ruby found a strange satisfaction in getting this right. Like she’d passed some kind of test.

“Ruby? You all right?”

Penny sounded nervous, and Ruby blinked a few times before looking up with a smile. “Yep.” Standing up, she straightened out the ribbons on Penny’s shoulders before kissing her cheek. “Just lost in thought.”

She bought the dress for her, and they walked out of the store arm in arm.

Just like a pair of normal girls.

 

**Ciel**

“Again.”

Ruby took off like a bullet, running as fast as she could without her semblance. The obstacle course was a brutal one, designed for people stronger and more nimble than her. Or at least, that’s what she figured, since she could never do it according to Ciel’s exacting standards.

Ever since she started training with Ciel and Penny to be on their team next year, she’d been put through the wringer. Ciel was _tough_. Way tougher than she looked. She ran alongside Ruby the first few times to give her the hang of things and then retreated to bark orders at her.

“Keep your balance there,” she shouted from the sidelines, running along just outside the edge of the course. “Go! Go!”

“I’m going!” Ruby yelled, windmilling her arms as she tried to keep on top of the narrow catwalk. When she reached the other tower she shimmied down before bolting to the final climb. Leaping up, she scaled the wall and then tumbled over the other side, landing at the finish in a heap of limbs.

“Oof.”

She sprawled out on her back, staring at the sky as her chest rose and fell. Ciel leaned over her, obscuring her vision with a permanent frown.

"You beat your best time," she said at last, clicking her stopwatch.

Rolling over onto her hands and knees, Ruby gasped. “Really?”

The words fought her on the way out. “Yes.”

“YES!”

Leaping up, Ruby punched the air. Stepping closer, she grabbed Ciel by the waist and kissed her cheek, careful not to get too much sweat on her. “What’s my prize?”

“I won’t make you do suicides until your legs cramp up and you faint or throw up,” Ciel said.

“I’ll take it.”

 

**Amber**

The four of them took turns standing guard. Ruby took the last watch of the night, the one that felt like forever. It was too early to be morning and too late to be night. The hours didn’t pass the same, with the forest making all sorts of alien sounds and the stars clearer than city lights.

It felt like she’d stepped through a mirror, landing in some other version of the daylight world. Shivering, Ruby crossed her arms and tried to drag herself out of her thoughts.

She wasn’t chosen for this duty because she daydreamed on the job.

So she heard it when the Maiden stirred. Maybe awoken by some otherworldly force, some ancient ken with the energies around us. Or maybe she just had trouble sleeping. Ruby sat up a little straighter as her ward approached, a thermos of hot ginger tea in her hands.

“Want a sip?” she offered, sitting down next to Ruby.

Ruby kept gnawing on her tongue, at a loss for words. She just shook her head, staring straight out into the night air.

“You know you don’t have to be so nervous around me.” Amber tried to tease her, but way her voice dipped sounded decidedly sly. “We don’t have to let it get to us.”

Of course, that was easy for her to say. Who was Ruby to the Autumn Maiden? Nobody. A huntress given the honor of watching her every move. Breathing down her neck because some very bad people wanted her dead.

Ruby bit her lip again, ducking her head low. “If you’d known...”

The Maiden made a noise to let her know she was listening.

“I mean if you’d... known I’d be assigned to you. Would you have? I mean. I didn’t know who you were. I wasn’t doing it to get closer to you or anything like that.”

"You don't strike me as someone who tries to sleep with the boss to get a promotion." Amber leaned over, and to Ruby's shock, she kissed her on the cheek. It was the same way she'd kissed her three weeks previously, in some dimly lit place much like this. Except there, the walls thrummed and throbbed with tension and bass. Ruby had been so lonely her whole body hurt, and the only way things went quiet was when she was in some place louder than her own thoughts.

She swallowed a thick lump in her throat. “I’m really, _really_ sorry.”

“For what?” Amber pushed the thermos into her hands now and Ruby felt she had to accept. She took a sip, letting it warm her, and the sweetness did calm her down and she felt like she could think again. “You didn’t know your group would be guarding me.”

“I know. I just...” Her face started turning red. She knew it, wondered if Amber could see it in the dark. “Well, I wonder if maybe now that... I mean I’d really like to be friends, if we could try that for a while.”

“I don’t have many friends.” Amber placed a hand on her knee. “So I think I’d like that too.”

 

**Raven**

“No. No. I want to be like you,” she said, wiping her cheek off with one gloved palm. Raven’s mouth wiped away the rest of her tears, licking her like a mother cat. Her body radiated warmth, a rare commodity in the frigid wastes she called home. Pinned to the wall of the abandoned cabin, she clawed for that heat.

Ruby felt like those broken wooden walls, aching and groaning with every stray touch. “I want it,” she said again, stumbling with every attempt to return a touch, artless and grasping. Raven’s body was stringy and wiry, ravaged by years of hard living. But it was soft in its own way, as she could be in the tender moments when she ceased the relentless training. Those soft moments were disgusting in a sense. It wasn’t what Ruby came here for, was the opposite of what she wanted.

“I don’t,” she hiccuped, pausing just long enough to stop and come to her senses, pushing Raven away. “No. I want to be like you. I want it to stop.” She sunk down to her knees, crouched over as it all came out. “I want to stop needing it. I don’t want to need people anymore. I want it to stop hurting. I can’t. I can’t.”

Raven paused to catch her breath, standing with her hip cocked to the side and one palm on the hilt of her sword. Then she crouched down as well, buttoning her shirt back up.

“It never stops,” she said. “There’s no way to get rid of it. You just learn to carry it.”

“I don’t want to--” Ruby started angrily, but Raven cut her short with a fierce grip under her chin.

“None of us _want_ to,” she snapped. “But we’re the ones who’re left, so we have to. That’s just the way it is.”

They paused, struggling over whatever was growing between them. Resentment over the fondness that had crept into their everyday life despite their best attempts to quell it.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said. “Same time as always.”

And in a rush of black feathers, she was gone.


End file.
